


Tall Grass Wave in the Wind

by fandomlver



Category: The Adventures of William Tell
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-20
Updated: 2013-07-20
Packaged: 2017-12-20 19:47:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/891145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomlver/pseuds/fandomlver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will is an old man when Drogo visits him for the last time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tall Grass Wave in the Wind

Will is an old man when Drogo visits him for the last time.

Aruna has been gone for seven seasons, Leon for another twelve or thirteen before that. Vara's planning to abdicate in favor of her son, a bright, compassionate boy. Will's oldest son runs the farm; his daughter, a girl so like Aruna it scares Drogo sometimes, is bodyguard to the Crown Prince; his youngest boy is a scholar, studying with Leon's people.

Drogo's not sure why he's here. When he woke this morning, it was already in his mind; talk to the guards about the spate of pick pocketing in the market, see Vara, and go to Will. He knows enough not to ignore an intuition like that. Vara doesn't question him, either, just sends him away with a smile and her love to Will.

Will doesn't look surprised to see him when he opens the door, and now Drogo is sure something is happening. Will doesn't look worried, though, he just nods, retrieving his cloak and stepping outside. "A pleasant afternoon," he announces. "Walk with me, Drogo?"

"If you like," Drogo agrees.

The workers watch them as they pass, but no one stops them or approaches them. Drogo lets Will set the pace and direction; it's a long time since he visited here, and he doesn't know the paths as well as he once did.

They reach a low rock halfway up a slope, and Will leans against it. Drogo joins him, studying the farm spread out below them. Vara's patronage has allowed Will to make the farm a success, and the multi colored fields are a beautiful backdrop as they sit.

"Drogo," Will says finally.

"Are you ready to tell me why I'm here?"

Will smiles, but Drogo's not sure why. "Drogo..."

Drogo shakes his head, suddenly aware of what he's about to say. "No. I changed my mind."

"I'm sorry," Will says gently. "But I need you to listen."

"Will, no, it's not time..."

"I'm tired, Drogo. My children are grown, my farm is thriving, the kingdom is safe and happy and at peace. Aruna's waiting, and I'm tired."

Drogo shakes his head again, but he's not arguing this time. "Are you in pain?" he asks instead.

"No pain. Just tired. I need two things from you."

"Anything."

"There's a letter, for Vara, in my room. Give it to her, please. Tell her I'm not afraid, that there was no pain. Make it easy for her."

"I will," Drogo promises. He's been and gone from the Citadel a dozen times over his life, roaming the country sometimes on Vara's behalf and sometimes just to roam, but he's still closer to her than any one else, and he knows no one else can give her this news. "I swear."

Will nods, reaching for his neck. The crystal pendant falls into his hand and he studies it with a faint smile. "You know, I tried to give this back to Kalem, the day after I met you."

Drogo remembers, the accusations he flung at Will, the venom in his tone, and how Will had never held it against him, never even mentioned it again, though it had obviously upset him. "Tried to?"

"It stuck to my hand. I couldn't let it go." He reaches for Drogo's hand, turning it over and placing the pendant in it.

Drogo stares at it for a long moment. "I don't understand," he says finally.

"Someone has to carry it." Will turns, pressing his shoulder to Drogo's, staring out across the valley. "I can't, any more."

"Not me, Will."

"In all my life, Kalem's only ever answered a call from one other person," he says conversationally. "She's only ever appeared to one other person when I wasn't there."

"I was in your body!" Drogo protests. "That doesn't prove anything!"

"I was in your body when I saw her, so if you're going to argue that, it still counts."

"Vara saw her, when you were carrying the Deathwand."

"She's never answered Vara's calls."

"Your children..."

"No," Will says simply. "I love them more than anything, but the pendant's not for them. It's for you."

Drogo turns it over in his hands. It weighs so much more than it should. It's so light he barely knows it's there. "Does Kalem know?"

"She knows. I haven't seen her in a long time, but she knows."

"And approves?"

Will smiles again. "You're the only other person she's ever answered, Drogo."

"She was coming to you," Drogo says softly. "To save you."

Will shakes his head, and there's no anger, no bitterness in his tone. "No. She wanted me to learn, but you had to, too. All of you. Kalem wouldn't have come without being called, and I couldn't."

Drogo turns the arrow over and, more to experiment than anything else, calls "Kalem?"

She steps into being a little way in front of them. Will bows his head. Drogo stares. "Drogo," she says, tone as even as ever. "Will," she adds, and there's warmth there. "Are you ready?"

"Ready, Kalem," he agrees, but he turns back to Drogo. "Wear it. Promise me. Until the day you have to pass it on."

"How will I know who to give it to?" Drogo protests, suddenly panicked. "Will, please, you can't go, Kale needs you..."

"William's task is done," Kalem tells him, and he realizes she called him _Will_ a moment ago, the only time he's ever heard her do that. "Kale's future lies in the hands of his children, and Vara's."

"You'll know who to give it to," Will adds. His voice is different, and Drogo looks over at him, and stares.

William Tell, flush with youth, tall and strong and looking just as he did on the run from Xax, looks back at him.

"It's time," Kalem says softly. Will nods, taking the two steps to her side.

"The letter for Vara," he reminds Drogo. "And the pendant."

Drogo drops the pendant over his head, feeling it fall into place on his chest. "Say hi to Aruna and Leon for me." He doesn't believe in an afterlife, it's not a Wolf belief, but Will clearly does, and he loves his friend too much to ignore his beliefs.

"Be well," Will tells him, and then he fades away with Kalem. Drogo draws a deep breath, turning back to study the body beside him. In death, Will is smiling.

Drogo returns to the house. Will's son isn't surprised, and Drogo wonders quietly how much Will's children inherited from him. He promises them any help the Crown can offer, finds the letter, and sets out back to the Citadel.

He isn't looking forward to telling Vara, but he doesn't need to. She lived with Will, too, knows the meaning of the pendant, and when he walks into court she glances at him, looks again, and dismisses her councilors, sitting stock still until they file out.

Drogo offers her the letter, but she shakes her head. "Is he all right?"

"Kalem came for him." It's not quite what she means, but it's what he has to offer. "He said Aruna was waiting for him."

Vara nods, rising to her feet and coming towards him. Her son is standing, very still, on one side of the room. Will's daughter is beside him, and Drogo's sorry he didn't see them sooner; it's not the way she should have heard this. But she's standing straight and tall, even though there are tears in her eyes.

Vara touches the pendant, smiling gently. "So now you're the true hero."

"No. I'm just carrying it." He watches her for a moment, gauging her mood. "I'm not nearly broody enough to be the true hero."

It gets a smile. She nods to her son, and he ushers Will's daughter out of the room. Drogo offers her the letter again, and this time she takes it, though she makes no attempt to read it. "Was he..."

She trails off, and Drogo says quietly, "He was ready. Not in pain, but tired, and ready for it. He wanted you to know that. He wasn't afraid."

"No," Vara agrees softly. "I don't suppose that he was."

Drogo fingers the pendant. "You're not surprised?"

"No. Should I be? It was always going to be you, Drogo." She eyes him, adding in a different tone, "Didn't you know?"

"No. No, I didn't."

Vara smiles. "Kalem has her reasons."

"Yes." A lot of things about the quest are making more sense to him now, knowledge appearing in his mind. He understands Will, and Will's actions, far better than he did then. It should scare him, he thinks, but it doesn't. The pendant feels right to him.

Vara's councilors push for a state funeral, for Will to be interred in the Citadel. Drogo finds it amusing, considering most of those councilors hated Will in life; they hated the sway he held over Vara, that a simple farmer had more influence than they did, that he couldn't be bribed or blackmailed into pushing their own agendas. Several of them had tried, just after the quest, to get Will on their side; he'd often visited the Citadel then, and they'd seen the value of having him in their corner. Will had been polite and noncommittal when approached, and consistently told Vara each time. Leon had been approached too, and Drogo thinks he would have been had he been any older. By the time anyone realized how close he and Vara were, he was too firmly entrenched to be manipulated. 

Drogo's ready to fight the funeral suggestion, but Vara dismisses it out of hand. She goes one step further, too, closing the ceremony to all but a select few; Will's children and a handful of neighbors, Vara and her son, Drogo. She sets her own guards around the farm to keep everyone else away.

There are fewer onlookers than Drogo had expected. There is a whole generation in Kale now to whom William Tell is a legend; they've grown up in peace and prosperity and Will's struggles and wars are of no interest to them. It's probably how he would have wanted it, but it seems wrong to Drogo. Will and the others sacrificed so much for these people, and most of them probably couldn't name all six of them.

The ceremony is short and heartfelt, and Will is laid to rest beside Aruna. Drogo doesn't call Kalem, and she doesn't come. She doesn't need to. Drogo is aware in ways he never was before, ways he can't even explain. He will never be alone again.

When Will is buried, Vara officially abdicates in favor of her son. The council will scream, but he'll have to deal with them, not her. He immediately proposes to his former bodyguard, and when she accepts he appoints his soon-to-be brother in law as his chief minister. Drogo smiles at the feeling of _right_ that sweeps through him.

Vara catches the look. "What?" she asks softly.

"Kalem approves."

"Oh? Well, here's something else for her to approve of." From a hidden pocket, Vara produces the shelter crystal. Her eyes are dancing, as they did when she sat on her throne and honored her friends.

"Vara," he says warningly.

"Come with me."

"Vara..."

"I could make it an order."

"You just abdicated," he points out dryly. "You can't order me to do anything."

The new king whispers something that sounds like "Wouldn't help" and Drogo grins. It's true he's never obeyed Vara's orders just because they were Vara's. He respects the monarchy well enough, it's just that Vara is _Vara._

He realizes he's made up his mind. Turning, he bows to the new king. "Your majesty. Your highness," he adds to the soon-to-be queen. Nodding to Will's sons, he turns to Vara. "Let's go, then, Vara." Studying her, he adds, "We'll have to get you better clothes."

"I am not dressing up like a man," she warns him.

"We'll see," he says airily.

Two of the guards try to follow them. Vara tells them she's just going for a walk and they back off, watching as the two head for the trees bordering Will's farm.

Drogo glances back at the graveside; Will's children are still there. "I wonder if he's gone to the Tomb," he muses. The first William Tell was there, and Aruna had rested there once; he remembers Will wondering if she's there now, back when they buried her. He'd talked about visiting, but Drogo knows now that the Tomb is not in the same place any more. Will probably couldn't have found it.

"Maybe," Vara agrees. Glancing around, she sighs. Drogo smiles; she seems freer, now. "So. Which way?"

"Whichever way you like," Drogo tells her, and it's the absolute truth.


End file.
